Held on Saturday, April 19 at Boston Common, the 2014 B.A.A. 5K will have a field size limit of 10,000 entrants

BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced that the B.A.A. 5K will be held on Saturday, April 19, 2014, two days prior to the 2014 Boston Marathon®. The start and finish will be relocated from Copley Square Park to Boston Common. Registration will be held online at www.baa.org beginning on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. ET and will be limited to 10,000 entrants. The cost to register is $50 USD and participants must be 10 years of age or older to register.

Since its inception in 2009, the B.A.A. 5K has been held on a Sunday, one day prior to the Boston Marathon. In recognition of Easter Sunday on April 20, 2014, the 2014 B.A.A. 5K will be held on Saturday, April 19, two days prior to the Boston Marathon.

“We have expanded the field size for the 2014 B.A.A. 5K to provide more people with an opportunity to experience one of our athletic events during Boston Marathon Weekend,” said B.A.A. Executive Director Tom Grilk. “In doing so we are particularly mindful of the desire of a great many people to make an athletic display of their resilience in the face of the April 2013 attack on Boston. With an adjusted location and date, the B.A.A. 5K will continue to provide the boost of excitement and running spirit that have quickly made it a Boston Marathon Weekend tradition embraced by elite and recreational runners alike.”

The start and finish of the B.A.A. 5K will be relocated from Copley Square Park to Boston Common. The 2014 B.A.A. 5K course will be a scenic tour through Boston’s Back Bay and will take participants down Boylston Street and across the Boston Marathon finish line. All registered participants will receive an event t-shirt from adidas, a finisher medal, and an exciting atmosphere on Boston Common as the B.A.A. and the City of Boston prepare for the Boston Marathon two days later.

The B.A.A. 5K will mark the beginning of the 2014 B.A.A. Distance Medley, a three-race series which combines the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, and the B.A.A. Half Marathon, presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. Registration for the 2014 B.A.A. Distance Medley will be limited. Registration will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, January 22 and will continue until Wednesday, January 29 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The Boston Marathon began in Ashland, Massachusetts from 1897 through 1923 then moved to Hopkinton for the 1924 race. The course was lengthened to 26 miles, 385 yards to conform to the Olympic standard, and the starting line was moved west from Ashland to Hopkinton. Since then, the race has started in Hopkinton every year.